Day: October 10, 2015

Location : C
Time/Length : AM/1.45
Rating : *****
Performance : ***
Board : 92
Notes : Gonna have to give it a five. I knew it would happen at Cap. 1850 joules predicted up and down the coast. I knew Capitola would be the most forgiving and doable. Prepped the night before- coffee, fruit, water, breakfast Sammy. Rolling by 630 am in the pre dawn fog. At County Line the fog broke and the sun blasted over the mountains giving me my first few of the waves. Massive. One was lined with cars on BOTH sides of the highway. Some serious muscle bound norcal dewds paddling out. What if Capitola was too big? I started to think of a contingency. Straight to Cowells. Park in a lot and hoof it up the hill. Rolling into Capitola it was a lull. 15 people in the scrum- far out by the jetty. It was 8 AM. The first set arrived. Gant (for me) crumblers. Maybe 10 foot the big outside ones? Maybe just 8? Sets seemed to have a lot of waves- then it went dead flat. I knew I could manage the paddle out in the lull so I suited up and attached the gadgets – trace satellite – go pro – watch- maybe I should head strap to mount a TV screen so I can watch re-reruns of curb your enthusiasm during the lulls. On the beach (what was left of it given it was a very high rising tide) I briefly considered paddling out by the jetty. This was a shorter paddle overall but put you smack in the middle of the scrum and if you timed it wrong directly in the impact zone. I decided to paddle diagonal – due south. That way I knew if I timed it wrong I could probably clear any breaking (right) wave on the shoulder. Paddled hella fast with deep strokes but timed it like Papillion – Dry hair. No seaweed out in the lineup, which was nice. I stayed far to the left of the scrum be cause I knew sets were plentiful and big enough that something outside would come my way. Indeed they did. A woman in the lineup was telling me the exact location of where “old Nasty” was located (a notorious boulder on the inside which many a fin and bone have broken). Then she said, “here comes a monster” She was right. Everybody started paddling out. I caught a glimpse of something even bigger behind the one bearing down on us. Since I was left of the scrum I was in the best position and started paddling furiously diagonally and to the South. It seemed everyone was paddling to get to my safe zone position. I made it over the first (two strokes paddling UP the wave) to see the shadow mountain approach me. I basically in perfect position – easily knew this would be one of the biggest waves of my life. I took off. Rather I was launched down the side of the face. At first I felt in control – but time seemed to stand still and gain speed at the same time. I tried to ride it high but I couldn’t get to the top of the face. It felt like my board was breaking up (like the beginning of the six million dollar man … I can’t hold it I can’t hold it she’s breaking up she’s breaking up) I started to panic because the wave was closing around me (or rather bearing down on me) what was frustrating was I could almost grasp the open face – a clean line so long it seemed to stretch down to Manresa but I couldn’t pull the board around the section and I got swallowed. The wave sort of grabbed me and I tumbled down the rest of the face over my board. Somehow however I went under somewhat briefly and was sort of spit out the back end like a catapult. Wow I thought not that traumatic. Lately at Linda I have been biting into the waves- being cavalier and taking chances. Today, I surfed cautiously and selected my waves carefully and giving them a wide berth and benefit of the doubt. I made one poor decision- going for a wave hard and missing it. It left me deep in the impact zone with a set approaching. I cursed loudly and started paddling diagonally trying to outrun a wave to the shoulder. Two surfers took off on it. Fortunately I was able to paddle between them –missing a 3-board collision. Broke all sorts of personal stats – Longest ride: 278 yarder – will take a while to beat that Distance paddled = 1.8 miles . Fastest speed 22.3 mph Video doesn’t translate the power. The Bolinas vid was much better. In retrospect maybe I should make that day a 5? Today however felt bigger than Bolinas – but what do I know?
Stats/Video : http://surf.traceup.com/stats/u?uId=519895&vId=5947
https://vimeo.com/142029251?utm_source=email&utm_medium=clip-transcode_complete-finished-20120100&utm_campaign=7701&email_id=Y2xpcF90cmFuc2NvZGVkfDE4ZmQ2Yzc2OGQ0ZWZmMjU2YTVkMjdlYWRlNzBhMThjOTY3fDE1NDMyNjgzfDE0NDQ1MzIxODF8NzcwMQ%3D%3D